Trains, castles and beer.

Guten Tag! After 30+ hours of travel, we have arrived in Wernigerode, Germany. We had great flights with Emirates. We landed in Hamburg slightly behind schedule, tired but excited to be here. We picked up our rental car at the Hamburg airport and then drove three and a half hours on the autobahn until we reached Wernigerode; quaint, pretty and full of character. The autobahn was quite the experience, with cars flying past us over at well 150kmh. Shannon handled the road amazingly well, for someone running on

very little sleep. It didn't take him long to get used to driving on the 'wrong side' of the road again. We checked in to our cute apartment and found a nearby supermarket to put together a makeshift dinner. After over 30 hours of travel, we were looking forward to a hot shower, something to eat and a looooong sleep.

We both slept incredibly well and were excited to explore this gorgeous town. We always take it slow on the first day of a trip, wander into town and get our bearings. So after breakfast, we did just that. The shops were closed and there weren't many people around at 9am, the best part of the day to go shopping according to Shannon. We admired the beautiful buildings and gardens and found a great cafe in the main square to sit outside and enjoy a coffee in the morning sun. We stopped in at the tourist information centre to get some brochures and plan for the next few days. We decided to take the little red train to Wernigerode castle. The young man in the tourist centre had shown us on a map where we could find the train stop. We thought we were in the right place. Turns out there was another stop a block behind where we were sitting. Luckily we weren't in a rush and wandered around the corner to the right stop! The train went through the town stopping a couple of times to pick up more people before it wound its way up the hill to the Medieval castle that overlooks the area.

Wernigerode castle was originally built in the 1600s and much of what we saw today was original. There have been restorations over the years of course and they have added a cafe inside the courtyard. We chose a little restaurant outside the castle walls and had our first German schnitzel of the trip. After wandering through the medieval hallways and royal rooms, it was time for a break. We sat in the lovely courtyard and enjoyed a beer. Oh yes, Katie enjoys a beer when in Germany.

We caught the little train back down the hill and wandered through town. It was far more alive at this time of day. There were plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine, sitting outside bars and cafes with steins of beer, bowls of ice-cream and apple strudel. Currently, we are back at our apartment, deciding on a restaurant for dinner.